Windows Intruded by CIA

Today, May 19th 2017, WikiLeaks publishes documents from the "Athena" project of the CIA. "Athena" - like the related "Hera" system - provides remote beacon and loader capabilities on target computers running the Microsoft Windows operating system (from Windows XP to Windows 10). Once installed, the malware provides a beaconing capability (including configuration and task handling), the memory loading/unloading of malicious payloads for specific tasks and the delivery and retrieval of files to/from a specified directory on the target system. It allows the operator to configure settings during runtime (while the implant is on target) to customize it to an operation.

According to the documentation (see Athena Technology Overview), the malware was developed by the CIA in cooperation with Siege Technologies, a self-proclaimed cyber security company based in New Hampshire, US. On their website, Siege Technologies states that the company "... focuses on leveraging offensive cyberwar technologies and methodologies to develop predictive cyber security solutions for insurance, government and other targeted markets.". On November 15th, 2016 Nehemiah Security announced the acquisition of Siege Technologies.

WikiLeaks has published a new batch of the ongoing Vault 7 leak, detailing a spyware framework – which "provides remote beacon and loader capabilities on target computers" – allegedly being used by the CIA that works against every version of Microsoft's Windows operating systems, from Windows XP to Windows 10.

Dubbed Athena/Hera, the spyware has been designed to take full control over the infected Windows PCs remotely, allowing the agency to perform all sorts of things on the target machine, including deleting data or uploading malicious software, and stealing data and send them to CIA server.

GNU/Linux in Ataribox

In June, Atari declared itself "back in the hardware business" with the announcement of the Ataribox—a retro-styled PC tech-based console. One month later it emerged Atari plans to crowdfund the project, and now we have some hard facts on cost, and what's under its hood.
Speaking to VentureBeat, the Ataribox creator and general manager Feargal Mac says an Indiegogo funding campaign will launch this year, and that the final product will ship in spring of 2018. When it does, it'll cost between $250—$300 and will boast an AMD custom processor with Radeon graphics.

SUSE on Storage

Cloud, big data and Internet of Things are all contributing to a data explosion in the enterprise – and traditional storage systems are simply unable to manage the load while providing acceptable performance levels.
Software-defined storage (SDS), where enterprise storage hardware and software are decoupled, is the logical next step in the move to a software-defined data centre.